Okay so I am new to this whole fish thing. I have my boy in an unfiltered 2 gal atm but I have a 5 gallon I want to set up! I found an old filter (Elite stingray 5) that I cleaned up and I am going to use. I also have the heater in the 2 gal which works for up to 5. The 5 gallon has no lid ( I will be making one) and so it has no light. ( still looking for a cheap hood but not going well : P )

Okay so I have questions first about cycling :
I am going to do a fishless cycle, to protect my betta. So I read that cycling thread and various other websites. I understand the basic premise. Do you suggest using the pure ammonia or the shrimp method? Which is faster? Everywhere says that I should seed my tank to speed it up , but being a beginner, I have no cycled tank to get things from : P . Would I be able to buy material from a store's cycled tank? like a bit of gravel or a piece of drift wood or something? Do they.. do that? ( Petsmart is right across the street so that's here I'll go) Can I do it without seeding the tank? It also says to use the heater turned up super high to promote the growth of bacteria.. but I only have one heater and I don't want to deprive my betta for the sake of a cycle.. Can I do the cycle without the heater?

And now onto my plant questions: I would love to grow plants but like I said.. I have no tank light. : ( The tank will be in a room with a huge skylight so the room gets tons of natural sun light.. Are there any plants that can survive that? or should I look into getting a light before I even think of plants.. If there are plants that don't need a tank light, what are they and do you suggest them? I hear plants help a lot with the ammonia levels and keeping a tank clean.

Anyways, I am planning on starting my cycle today. Wish me luck. Any and all advice is appreciated.

You can do it without seeding your tank. I would not use anything from petsmart or another fish store as you don't know how healthy there stuff is. And I would use pure ammonia. Thats what I have used and it works well.

Okay another question, I went looking at petsmart for a test kit and only foudn one that as ridiculously expensive. so I will have to look else where. But my question is do I wait til I have the kit or could I start the process now then just test it after I get it?

Also my friend has a tank, I am gonna see if she is wiling to help me seed it haha

I would get the kit as the first day you need to measure ammonia. You want the API master freshwater test kit. It is the best and most accurate. It's spendy, but worth it.

how much? Cause I really cnat afford to spend huge amounts of money on it atm. I heard from other fish people that I only really need the ammonia one for the cycling.. Is that true, are the nitrite / nitrate ones really necessary?

I think it's around $21. And yes you need the nitrate and Nitrite tests as you will need to measure those towards the end. Read this as I found it to be very helpful since I am cycling a new tank for the first time in a few years and needed a refresher.